- April 2013 Art @ Mulberry Art Studios -

Christopher J. Kulfan: Neither Here Nor There

Christopher J. Kulfan’s Neither Here Nor There, a fine art photography exhibit which includes found art series, nature photography, urban exploration and records of daily life, will be on display in the Louise Gallery at Mulberry Art Studios throughout the month of April. The public is invited to come out and experience the artwork, meet the artist and enjoy refreshments at a First Friday Opening Reception on April 5th from 5pm until 9pm. The exhibit will also be available during regular gallery hours, weekdays from 10am until 4pm, and by appointment on evenings and weekends.

Christopher J. Kulfan, a Lancaster County native, moved with his wife to Northern Ireland in 2011. Neither Here Nor There came from Christopher’s desire to examine the life he lived in these two countries with both a controlled perspective (six months of daily photos in both countries) and an unrestrained one (allowing him the freedom to choose to shoot only when inspiration strikes.) The resulting exhibit showcases the artist’s life in the US and his contrasting life in Europe. These images link wildly diverse subjects through a unified perspective, leaving the viewer with an impression of interconnectivity.

Christopher is a self-taught photographer who studied philosophy as an undergraduate. Having lived in New York City, rural Pennsylvania, and, most recently, the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland, he searches for and creates subjects that blend the natural and unnatural, the uncultivated and manufactured. Two of his projects, “Typing on Jetsam” and “The Watchmaker Analogy” series are examples of this juxtaposition.

Since continuing his photographic instruction through the New York Institute of Photography, he continues to seek out new methods and techniques, such as building a hand-made lens crafted out of common household materials that produces the results of a tilt-shift lens. These projects provide a vehicle for him to create a tangible and more accurate representation of his artistic vision. “It is frustrating knowing exactly what a photograph should look like but being limited by the technology in your hands,” Christopher explains. “It is that setback exactly that forced me to start manipulating my camera and photographic equipment in such a way that it would only ever be a bridge and not a brick wall.”

Amber Sander & Kelli Mantell: Via 403

Amber Sander and Kelli Mantell’s debut exhibit, Via 403, will be showing in the North Gallery at Mulberry Art Studios this April. The exhibit, which features water color on paper and mixed media prints, opens with a First Friday Reception from 5pm until 9pm on April 5th. The exhibit will also be on display throughout the month of April during regular gallery hours, Monday through Friday from 10am until 4pm.

Via 403 encompasses two unique bodies of work created from a similar environment. Rome provided an invigorating setting to paint; walking amongst ruins and interacting with creative minds from around the world inspired brief watercolors. In turn, the images have been studied and transformed into delicate, yet masculine paintings from Kelli Mantell and Amber Sander. The images represent the fragility juxtaposed with the strength of an ancient and enduring world.

Kelli Mantell is an emerging artist from southern Chester county Pennsylvania. She will receive her B.F.A. from Pennsylvania College of Art & Design this spring. Kelli’s work employs painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, video and photography that engages viewers in narrative environments. Creating stimulating visual objects was the driving force in Kelli’s childhood, education and career.
“The delectable cathartic response to painting through my demons challenged me to reach beyond my comfort zone to reaching solutions that took my work from representational to abstract” explains Kelli. “While painting is the forerunner of my collective work, it signifies an uncomfortable and deeply personal necessity to capture quick sensations; a feeling that each of us gather in routine encounters within our own individual realities. Each mixed media painting helps me patch together my brief encounters with personal memories as well as express them to an audience, which, in turn provides me with an alternate perception of memories.”

Amber Sander will be completing her undergraduate studies at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design where she will receive her Bachelors of Fine Arts in May. During the course of her undergraduate studies, Amber took a semester hiatus from PCA&D in 2009 to study art history and sculpture at Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy. She was so greatly inspired by her trip overseas, she has traveled back to Italy twice more through the Rome Art Program to study ‘plein aire’ painting and drawing, first in Florence in July 2011, and again to complete an internship in Rome during the summer 2012. Amber plans to take a year off from institutionalized education to travel with her soon-to-be husband before continuing her education at an international graduate program somewhere in Europe. She currently commutes to school while living in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

First Friday Musical Performance: Leaf By Niggle

Leaf by Niggle, a young band from Philadelphia, will be providing musical accompaniment to the First Friday festivities at Mulberry Art Studios on April 5th. Leaf by Niggle plays mostly instrumental folk and old-time music, featuring guitar, piano, upright bass, and mandolin. Their unusual name comes from a short story by J. R. R. Tolkien which is often seen as an allegory of the author’s own creative process, and, to an extent, of his own life. The band consists of Tyler Kulfan, Jon Harris and Addison Martin.